Breaking: Health Minister, Isaac Adewole Sacks Striking Doctors

Isaac Adewole, minister of health, has directed the chief medical directors (CMDs) and medical director (MDs) of federal government tertiary health institutions to fill the vacancies created by resident doctors who have “abandoned” their training programme.

Resident doctors in government hospitals embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday.

According to Boade Akinola, spokesperson of the ministry, the directive was contained in a circular signed by Amina Shamaki, permanent secretary, federal ministry of health,

The circular read as follows:

“It has come to the notice of the Management of the Ministry that some Resident Doctors in your establishment have voluntarily withdrawn from the Residency Training Program by refusing to report for training without authorization. Public Service Rule, PSR 030402 (e) is relevant.

“This is in spite of the ongoing negotiations on their demands put forward by the representatives of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association.

“In view of this development, you are hereby directed to replace all the Doctors that have withdrawn their services, with others from the pool of applicants for the training programs in the various disciplines in order not to create ominous gap in training with attendant disruption of health care delivery in your facility.

“Meanwhile, the ministry is working with the panel on the review of the Residency Training Program in Nigeria, led by Professor Wole Atoyebi, the Registrar of the National Postgraduate Medical College, to fast-track the development of a comprehensive blueprint for postgraduate training of doctors in the country.
“Please, ensure immediate compliance.”